


The Ambassador's Choice

by LauraAnneB



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 10:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20599334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LauraAnneB/pseuds/LauraAnneB
Summary: Josephine struggles with whether to tell the Inquisitor about her pregnancy after the chaos of the Exalted Council. For the 2019 Dragon Age Prompt Exchange Fill-a-Thon.





	The Ambassador's Choice

Josephine stared at Edric’s face in the early morning light as he slept. She’d been up all night, just feeling his chest rise and fall as they cuddled. She had to remember everything about him: his bulbous nose, his jug ears, his thick lips, his pale brown skin, the dark brown casteless brand on his left cheek, the pale blond hair still up in the ponytail he usually wore it in. They’d been too exhausted after he returned from the Darvarad to do more than shuck off his armour; his shirt and breeches reeked of old sweat and were spotted with dried blood and mud.

She had to remember everything about him. She’d almost lost him. 

She made herself focus on his missing left arm. He’d likely have a crisis of identity when he awoke. How could a mighty warrior control the battlefield when he couldn’t even wield his war hammer? Edric liked to joke, but that didn’t mean things didn’t affect him deeply.

Josephine touched the faint bulge at her stomach, which she’d started doing often when she was alone. Her flow was late for the second month. Lately, she’d struggled to keep food down, and certain scents made her gag. She was exactly as her mother had been during her pregnancies. She’d pieced everything together a few days before the Exalted Council, imagining that she’d tell Edric when things were calmer.

_I can’t tell him, not with everything._ Two years ago, they had both called Solas their friend, but he never had been. He was a figure out of what had once been thought only legend, a mage of unsurpassed power, and he wanted to end the world.

With great regret, Edric had vowed to kill Solas. The Inquisitor had another grand quest to complete. He didn’t need the distraction of a pregnant lover and child.

There were herbs that would take care of the matter. He need never know. They could plan a family when Thedas was safe and settled.

But he was her partner. Didn’t he deserve to make a choice?

Josephine closed her eyes, murmuring a soundless prayer to Andraste for guidance.

Edric chuckled softly. His voice was hoarse from all his battle screams. “No need to pray, Josie. It’s me, in the flesh. I’m still here.”

She smiled at him, kissing his forehead. He looked exhausted. “I apologize for disturbing you.”

“I was having a hard time sleeping anyway.” He yawned. “I didn’t have any dreams. Interesting.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“The Anchor gave me dreams. Dwarves don’t usually have them. I suppose I’m back to being a normal dwarf now.” His tone was light, but he glanced at the stump of his left arm.

“You’ll have to start training with a one-handed weapon.”

He sighed. “I know 30’s not that old, but it’s old enough that retraining completely is going to be…difficult.”

“Nothing’s impossible, not with your spirit.” She kissed him briefly on the lips to emphasize her point.

“Well, I wouldn’t bet on me beating Bull or Cullen in a sparring match anytime soon.”

“Noted.”

He moved his left arm toward her in an embrace, then checked himself and reached for her with his right hand.

“No.” Josephine held his bandage-wrapped stump and kissed it. “You don’t have to hide from me.”

Edric glanced away, sniffling a bit and smiling sheepishly. “Stop being so good to me, you. I’m not used to love and acceptance—it’s weird.”

_I should take my own advice_, Josephine realized. _I shouldn’t have to hide anything from him._

She inhaled deeply, praying to Andraste she wasn’t destroying Thedas with a selfish choice.

“Edric, I’m with child.”

Edric stared at her, eyes going wide. “You’re….” He opened and closed his mouth a few times. His gaze dropped to her stomach, hidden by the ruffles of her nightgown, then returned to her face. “I didn’t know dwarves and humans could….”

“I didn’t either.”

“Well. All right. You’re pregnant. Okay. Huh.” He gulped. After a few moments, he said, “I hope you’re not expecting our kid to be tall.”

Josephine was startled into a giggle.

Edric gasped suddenly. “Oh, shit, I’m a Reaver. I’ve been drinking refined dragon’s blood! Can’t imagine that’s great for a baby. Our kid might also have scales. I’ll ask Cass about that.”

Josephine loved him, but she needed to move past the joking. “I take it you want a child, my love?”

Edric’s usual smile fell. “Well, I’ll admit it wasn’t exactly expected.”

Josephine nodded. “With the world the way it is, with this new task you must shoulder, perhaps it’s best that we revisit the matter of children in the future, when things are more stable. Do we want to bring a child into a world at risk from one of the most powerful mages we know?”

Edric exhaled slowly. “I guess I didn’t think of it like that. Solas being Fen’Harel feels like a bad dream, honestly. Trust you to help me see the big picture.” He reached out to her, holding her nearest hand. “Do you want a child right now, Josie?”

“I don’t know.” Josephine rubbed at her temple. “One moment, I’m thrilled at the idea of having our baby. The next moment, I think of a child growing up without their father. I—I almost lost you yesterday, Edric. I can’t go through that again, not with a child, too.”

They cuddled close, his head on her shoulder. Josephine wiped away the tears that kept springing to her eyes.

After a few moments, Edric spoke. “And…if I didn’t hunt for Solas?”

“What? My love, you’re the Inquisitor. You’re the only one in position to—”

“Actually, I’m not sure I am. Rather, I’m not sure the Inquisition is, not anymore. The first Inquisition dissolved when it wasn’t needed. We’re riddled with corruption and spies anyway. Why not toss the whole organization out?”

“But…all the plans we made…everything we’ve built….”

Edric tsked theatrically. “Ah, here it comes, you were only with me for my power.”

“Please, Edric, enough jests.”

“Sorry, my love.”

Josephine tried to work out what he was saying, and what it might mean for Thedas and beyond. “How would you hunt Solas?”

“We can get a whole new team together, one Solas doesn’t know about. I’ll be more of an advisor, I suppose. You can teach me how! My days trekking up and down the countryside slaying things are over anyway, at least for a while.” He waggled his amputated arm.

“For the most part,” he continued, “I could stay with the baby while you crush all other diplomats in your way and become the best ambassador in the world. Or however ambassadors gain power, I dunno. I don’t actually know what you do.”

Josephine chuckled, wiping away tears. Edric had covered the war table with her markers and gained every perk she could grant him. “Are you saying I’m not the best ambassador in the world right now, Edric?”

“Shit. Knew I should’ve stopped talking. Give me a break, will you? I just faced down a god—I’m not quite with it yet.”

“You’re forgiven, my love.” She could see him in the Montilyet’s villa, cradling a little one. A few months ago, he’d mentioned wanting to start a garden. She could have her family’s head gardener, Ranala, teach him a few things. He could sit in the sunlight and, for once, relax.

“That is,” Edric said quietly, “if you want a child. They’re not growing in my body, after all. Life’s hardly going to work itself out just because the Inquisition’s gone. We might destabilize Thedas even further. And you’ll have lots to do to get the Montilyet merchant fleet ready, and—”

She took his hand and rested it on her stomach. “Perhaps this is a sign from Andraste. She’s telling us that her Herald can rest for a time. The fate of Thedas is not up to only us, after all. There are many who oppose Solas, and we can find them and set them on his trail. We can try to give our child the best world possible for them to grow up in.”

She knew Edric didn’t believe in Andraste, but he didn’t contradict her. Instead, he focused on her belly. “A baby,” he said, delightedly. “That’s a little baby in there. I can’t believe it. Oh, wow, I really hope they don’t have scales. Who would’ve thought, huh? The world is just…it’s insane.”

“It is certainly stranger than I ever thought possible.”

One of the wonderful things about love was that Josephine was constantly discovering new depths of it. She’d thought she understood love when Edric lifted and twirled her after dueling Lord Otranto. But the feeling kept deepening with every silly joke, every thoughtful comment about one of her diplomatic plans, every kiss.

_Speaking of kisses…._

She kissed him hard, her hand making a fist in his hair. She needed to feel more of him. She began scrambling at his filthy tunic. “My love,” she murmured against his lips, “oh, my love….”

“Wait.”

She broke the kiss and he cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Oh,” she realized, “of course. You must be exhausted. Another time, then.”

“It’s not that. It’s just time I make an honest woman out of you.”

She couldn’t have heard him correctly. He wasn’t proposing marriage, was he?

Edric’s eyes widened, then he groaned, running his hand over his face. “Argh, why did I say it like that?! Um, Josie, just stay there and please, please, _please _pretend to be surprised.”

He left and hurried over to his pack.

_Perhaps it means something different among the carta than it does to most Theodosians?_

“I had it all planned out, my love,” he said over his shoulder. “I’d rented a room in the fanciest inn in Val Royeaux. We were gonna have a carriage ride around the city….” Opening his pack and searching through it was difficult with only one hand.

_I should help him._ Josephine stood. It felt as if some spirit had taken over her body. He couldn’t mean what she thought he meant, could he?

“Aha!” Edric turned around, knelt, and presented her with a ring. It seemed combined of multiple different stones—Josephine counted dawnstone, serpentstone, sunstone, onyx and iron on first glance, and there were many more besides. Lyrium runes were inscribed on the band.

Her hand flew to her mouth. “Edric,” was all she could say.

“The stones of the ring were mined throughout Thedas. You’ve given me the world, and I wanted to return the favour. I wanted to forge this ring myself and give it to you.”

“Edric…”

“Wait, let me finish. I hoped being a dwarf meant I’d naturally be good at forging this thing, but I was horribly wrong. Turns out, I’m only good at hitting things. Dagna made the ring for me. Which actually worked out great, since she made a masterwork!

“It protects you from fire, ice, electricity, and spirit magic. I mean, it doesn’t make you invincible, so please don’t stand outside in a thunderstorm daring Andraste to strike you with lightning. But it can definitely take the worst of the damage for a blast or two.”

Was he ever going to let her get a word in edgewise? His hand was shaking. _He must be so nervous._

“Yes,” Josephine blurted out when he paused to take a breath.

That made him fall silent. “Well,” he murmured after a while.

She ran to him then, laughing, and pulled his face up to hers so she could cover it with kisses.

“Mind if I take your last name?” he asked with unusual shyness.

“You want to give up your surname?” Surely, she should take his—an Inquisitor, even a former Inquisitor, was greater in rank than any nobility.

“I’ll admit, it’s a tough choice between the last name held by carta criminals and the last name held by Antivan nobility. But I stand by it.”

She laughed and held him tight. “Edric Montilyet. I love it. I love you. Oh, my dearest. I’m so happy.” And only a few hours ago, she’d been pacing the courtyard while Cullen and Leliana kept her company, sick with worry over the Inquisitor and his companions.

“You’re the only future I need, Josie. You and our short, scaly baby. I really will check with Cass about the scale thing. Although, the baby might breathe fire. That would be kinda awesome.”

Helpless against his infectious silliness, Josephine laughed. Love just kept pulling her deeper and deeper. She hoped it never stopped.

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was: "Josephine learns that she is pregnant with the Inquisitor’s child just before the events of Trespasser. So she decides not to tell him yet. She doesn’t want more stress on him. But then it never seems like the right time with more and more problems and pain befalling the Inquisitor, culminating in the disappearance of Solas and the Inquisitor losing his arm. And she starts to feel like this is the wrong time for a child in their lives."


End file.
